Conventionally, there is known a toilet seat covering paper feeding apparatus for setting a seat covering paper on the toilet seat hygienically such as the one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model-Laid Open Publication No. 155399/1985.
This apparatus comprises a seat covering paper roll holder for storing continuous seat covering papers arranged in such a size and shape as to be capable of covering the upper surface of the toilet seat and being taken up in a sheet form or in a folded form, a seat covering paper feeding mechanism provided with a feed roller for feeding forward the seat covering paper a predetermined length onto the upper surface of the toilet seat, and a seat covering paper cutting mechanism provided with a sharp cutting blade for cutting the rear end of the seat covering paper thus fed.
In the conventional apparatus as described above, the feeding and cutting operations of the seat covering paper are carried out by turning on an operation switch to rotate the feed roller or to elevate the cutter.
In the above construction, the cutting of the seat covering paper is carried out by shearing, namely, by slidably moving a movable blade having a sharp cutting edge or ridge relative to a fixed blade also having a sharp cutting edge or ridge.
After cutting the seat covering paper with such blades, for example, thousands of times, the cutting edges of these blades become rounded thus deteriorating the cutting performance.
Furthermore, in spite of the fact that the movable blade and the fixed blade are disposed at the rear portion of the toilet seat which is subjected to the splashing water, the movable blade and the fixed blade are both made of metal such as carbon steel to obtain the sharp cutting edges. Therefore, the cutting edges of the movable blade and the fixed blade become corroded thus deteriorating the cutting or shearing performance from this point of view as well.
For maintaining favorable cutting or shearing performance, the cutting edges of the movable blade and the fixed blade must be ground periodically. This grinding operation, however, takes considerable time and effort making the maintenance operation considerably cumbersome.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a toilet seat structure capable of automatically feeding a seat covering paper onto a toilet seat which can overcome the above drawbacks of the conventional apparatus, wherein the seat covering paper is torn by pressure applied onto the seat covering paper by the pressing of a press plate but not by the conventional shearing force so that the sheet tearing mechanism virtually can be set free from the maintenance for many years.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a toilet seat structure capable of automatically feeding a seat covering paper on a toilet seat which can prevent dirty water such as splashed flushing water from entering into the functional casing which accommodates various mechanisms such as the seat covering feeding mechanism and seat cover tearing mechanism or the control unit so that damage or malfunction of the mechanisms or the control device in the functional casing can be effectively prevented.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a toilet seat structure capable of automatically feeding a seat covering paper onto a toilet seat wherein the seat covering paper feeding mechanism is incapable of feeding the seat covering paper so long as the user sits on the seat body whereby the feeding of the paper by error or mischievously can be prevented and entanglement of the seat covering paper in the casing body can be prevented.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a toilet seat structure capable of automatically feeding a seat covering paper onto a toilet seat wherein the seat covering paper is held clamped until the user stands up from the seat body after using the toilet so that displacement of the seat covering paper or sticking of the seat covering paper to the buttocks can be prevented.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a toilet seat structure capable of automatically feeding a seat covering paper onto a toilet seat wherein after the seat covering paper is torn, the rear end of the seat covering paper cut is held firmly so that falling of the seat covering paper from the seat body due to a breeze can be effectively prevented and the user uses the toilet without being bothered by the falling off of the seat covering paper.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a toilet seat structure capable of automatically feeding a seat covering paper onto a toilet seat wherein any problems with the seat covering paper such as clogging of the seat covering paper in the functional casing or using up of the seat covering paper are effectively solved, namely, the clogged paper can be readily removed from the functional casing and a new seat covering paper roll is readily set in the functional casing.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a toilet seat structure capable of automatically feeding a seat covering paper onto a toilet seat wherein in case the seat covering paper fed onto the seat body is twisted or becomes wet with, splashed water so that the paper is not usable, the clamping of the seat covering paper is readily released and the seat covering paper can be readily removed from the seat body and discarded into the toilet bowl so that a fresh seat covering paper can be fed onto the seat body to facilitate the usability of the toilet.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a toilet seat structure capable of automatically feeding a seat covering paper onto a toilet seat wherein when the seat covering paper roll cover is to be opened for replacement of the seat covering paper roll or for the removal of clogged seat covering paper, the power source is turned off so as to stop the operation of all the mechanisms in the functional casing, whereby the paper roll replacement operation or the removal of the clogged paper can be readily carried out.
In summary, the present invention discloses a toilet seat structure capable of automatically feeding a seat covering paper onto a toilet seat comprising (a) a seat covering paper roll in a seat covering paper roll protection cover disposed at the rear of a toilet seat body, (b) a seat covering paper feeding mechanism for feeding a seat covering paper from the seat covering paper roll to the upper surface of the seat body, (c) a seat covering paper tearing mechanism for tearing the seat covering paper after delivery, and (d) a control unit for controlling the seat covering paper tearing mechanism, wherein the improvement is characterized in that the toilet seat structure further comprises tension applying means for applying tension to the seat covering paper and the seat covering paper tearing mechanism comprises a press plate which is capable of applying pressure on the tensioned seat covering paper for tearing the seat covering paper.
In the above construction, for facilitating the tearing of the seat covering paper, the seat covering paper may preferably be provided with a plurality of breaking lines each of which is made of a multiplicity of small perforations formed continuously and transversely on the entire width of the seat covering paper.
Due to such construction, the present invention has the following advantages.
(1) Without using the shearing force exerted by the sliding movement of a movable blade relative to a fixed blade, the seat covering paper is torn by a pressure applied by the press plate on and along the breaking lines disposed at regular intervals on the seat covering paper.
Accordingly, the tearing edge of the press plate can be formed in a round shape so that the wear of the tearing edge which is generated through the tearing operation can be minimized whereby maintenance or repairing can be also minimized.
(2) Without using the shearing force exerted by sliding movement of a movable blade relative to a fixed blade, the seat covering paper is cut by pressure applied by the press plate on and along the breaking lines disposed at regular intervals on the seat covering paper.
Accordingly, the tearing edge of the press plate can be formed in a round shape and the press plate can be made of plastics or ceramics which do not corrode. Therefore, the prevention of the occurrence of wear of the tearing edge can be promoted whereby maintenance or repairing can be further minimized.